Trial Run
by xXsavemysoulXx
Summary: Random ramble about Sirius and James' trial run of the twoway mirrors in detention. Oneshot.


"Oi!"

A pause. James Potter glanced around the room, a puzzled expression on his face. Nobody there. Maybe he was just imagining things. He went back to scrubbing the floor of Slughorn's classroom with an irritated grunt.

"Oi, four-eyes!"

He paused again. He surely couldn't have imagined it _this_time; imaginary voices seldom called you names, as far as James was aware. He looked around again suspiciously, but there was still nothing to be seen bar the desks and a few shelves laden with potion ingredients and photographs of various well-looked-upon alumni.

"Prongs! What are you doing, you deaf deer?"

A wave of realisation dawned across James' face. He'd obviously been affected by all the left-over potion dripped on the floor or something not to remember their trial run of the two-way mirrors that he and Sirius had planned to alleviate the boredom of their separate detentions. He fumbled in his robes for the offending article and looked into it, grinning.

"Cleaning Slughorn's floor… and I know you love me but please don't call me 'dear' in public."

Sirius' face appeared in the glass as quickly as the cauldron explosion which had got them in detention to start with, his grey eyes sparkling.

"Oh Prongsie, the love of my life," he burbled, closing his eyes and putting on a dreamy smile, "I miss you so much! Come to me, my love, and I shall…"

"Alright, alright, I get the gist," James cut him off, rolling his eyes but grinning broadly all the same, "The role of swooning princess is reserved for Evans, when she chooses to realise she loves me."

Now it was Sirius' time to roll his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, because she's really going to change her mind after five years of hating you," he pointed out, for what seemed like the millionth time, "And besides, why would you want the towering inferno when you could have Sexy Sirius instead?"

"Because Evans is beautiful and intelligent," James retorted, "And you're… well, you're Sirius. Not to mention a _guy_."

"Oh alright, I know when I'm not wanted," Sirius sniffled in his usual over-exaggerated manner, "I'll just have to transfer my affections to Peter or Remus instead. _They_ won't reject me."

To this, James let out a noise that could only be described as a giggle, which immediately had Sirius in fits of laughter at the other end of the mirror. In his subsequent bout of (admittedly much more manly) laughter, James managed to knock over the bucket of water with which he was supposed to be cleaning the floor, in response to which he yelped, setting off Sirius again.

"Sirius? Mate?" James tried to sound angelically persuasive, "Don't suppose you remember the cleaning spell, do you? 'Cause Slughorn'll kill me if I leave his classroom looking like a lake…"

"Prongs, the only way Slughorn could kill you," Sirius pointed out between peals of laughter, "Is by squashing you."

"Okay, good point, but I don't really want him to try," said the unfortunate James, who was dripping with water from the knees down and desperately trying to squeeze it out, "Now what's the damned spell?"

"Erm… I've forgotten?" Sirius tried his (usually) winning smile in an attempt to look vaguely sympathetic, "If you'd wanted someone to help you with work, you should've given Moony the other one of these things!"

James sighed, realising he was defeated, and picked up the mop lying previously unused next to the overturned bucket. If he had to get this mess cleared up, he was going to have to start actually doing some work instead of chatting to Sirius.

"Look, I'll see you later mate, okay? Slughorn's coming back in half an hour and I've still got most of the room to clean."

He wiped the drops of dirty water off the glass and put the mirror carefully back in his pocket. Well it was working, and definitely useful as a boredom-buster, but it hadn't done much for his reputation with Slughorn. Wait… what reputation with Slughorn? He was a troublemaker, what did he care about his reputation with teachers? Well maybe he did a little bit, if only for the sake of sucking up to Evans.

James leant on the mop handle and smiled, putting his hand in his pocket to fiddle with the piece of parchment declaring "Leave me alone, Potter" in Lily Evans' handwriting. It had been the annoyed reply to a prank the Marauders had played on her last year and was the only thing he had ever received from the redhead. He smiled to himself as he recalled the look on her face when he'd rushed in to save her from the amorous second year whose pumpkin juice they had spiked with love potion.

"I'm watching you…" came an amused-sounding voice from his pocket.


End file.
